California Building 220 MPH High-Speed Train from San Francisco to LA
Imagine a high-speed rail line that could get you from San Francisco to LA in 2 hours and 40 minutes.
That dream appears to be coming true, thanks to work by the California High-Speed Rail Authority. After getting a green light by State environmental impact assessors, they’ve begun implementation of an 800-mile bullet-train system that will connect Sacramento, the San Francisco Bay Area, the Central Valley, Los Angeles, the Inland Empire, Orange County and San Diego. Trains traveling at 220 mph on the systems are forecast to carry up to 100 million passengers per year by 2030.
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While 2030 is a long way off, at least things are moving in the right direction. Having a high-speed rail system connecting (eventually) the length of the West coast is a good idea for a number of reasons, including greenhouse-gas emissions reductions, improving public transportation and reducing congestion, and creating half a million new jobs. While our aging standby Amtrak is still around (believe it or not) and bearable for short distances, it’s more expensive and takes twice as much time to travel the same distance when compared to driving (non-California example: 15 hours from Portland, OR to San Francisco).
The State will have a bond measure of $9.95 billion on the November 2008 ballot, which requires a simple majority vote for approval. The measure allocates $9 billion for the high-speed rail system and $950 million for improvements to other rail services that connect to the high-speed service.
For more information, see the website of the California High-Speed Rail Authority.
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This story was also reported at EcoLocalizer: A Train as Fast as a Plane: The Plan for High-Speed Rail in California Moves Forward
Photo Credit: NC3D, provided by the California High Speed Rail Authority
Repeat after me… this will never get built.
I drive from Ventura to Santa Barbara everyday for my job. The 101 is a complete disaster - it’s falling apart. If the state doesn’t have money to fix this vital freeway, then it sure as heck ain’t going to have billions to build this high speed rail line. Couple more years and I am moving back to Europe, where they are actually making progress for the future. America will spend billions a month on Iraq, yet the government won’t spend a dime to fix the eroding infrastructure. And by 2030, when global warming causes the Sierra snow pack to be cut in half, how will California survive? They should be starting construction of desalination plants up and down the coast _now_ not talking about bond measures to build more dams. What are they going to fill the dams with, dust? Perth Australia built a huge desal plant a couple of years ago when they realized the rainfall and underground sources of water weren’t going to be enough for their growth and they will be building another plant soon. If California tried to do this, it would be tied up in the courts for years.
@stephen, could not agree with you more.
umm… who said it had anything to do w/ the west coast?????
The whole entire article is about CA and being able to travel faster around it. So wtf are you talking about???
Oh, for crying out loud. What the hell is it with politicians that they keep thinking that *this* time, they can build a passenger rail project that will succeed?
There’s no shortage of transportation provided by the private sector. If high-speed rail is viable in the market, let it be built with private funds.
-jcr
Cynics! OPEC is going to pry the last of the fat asses out of SUV’s, we all know they won’t walk, and they will still have to get around. Combine this idea with huge rental outfits for battery cars at the train stations, and you have the makings of a warmer, kinder, less pressured America. A nice clean place to live! We could even have dining rooms and news stands at the stations!
This is going to be so cool. No more fucking Air Plane trips to places not so far. No more gas! w00t! i want public transportation to get better. What is important to know is how many lanes they plan on building. The more lanes, the cheaper transportation will be by volume, which will pay for itself, but the question is will there be enough resources at the destination points in order to pick people up, take them to their destinations once they have arrived. Each destination needs public transportation. They will have to tackle this as a plane alternative. and jets are not fun to take, long waits, uncomfortable flights, and no cellphones.
This is a great idea, you’d have to be an idiot not to see that. Fact 1 in 8 americans reside in california. To expect greener solutions in California without creating a rapid mass transit for the people is insane. While the cost’s could go higher I doubt that they would. The only reason for cost’s to go up would be if prices for steel and other metals continue to rise, all the more reason to get a jump on this now. Then when you factor in the price for fuel for Jet’s and the struggling economy of Airline travel and the wait times for Planes and security checks you end up taking just as long to travel from the bay area to L.A.. Now a better question would be why not take the existing Amtrak lines tracks and convert them to the bullet train style, thereby using an existing area instead of having to find land and rezoning. Meanwhile they can run the line up into Oregon and Washington and hopefully split the expense. Also we need to set up multiple tracks to have at least 4 trains running at any time. If we implemented this kind of transit model, the people would take it. A 1.5 hour trip would beat an airline any day.
Public transportation is no panacea. While 220mph from SF to LA is “fast” we already have planes that take you there at 500mph. But there’s still 2-3 hours queing delay on each end for security, ticketing, scheduling, and baggage claim. Why would it be any different for a packed bullet train?
Your 440 mile journey wouldn’t be over in two hours, it would take four. Oh, and you’d have to arrange for a car at the far end to get where you are going. Taxi? Sure if you’re traveling on business or the taxpayer’s dime. But people who pay their own way know that cab fare one way is equivalent to a full-day rental.
I could make the same 440 mile journey in four hours if they’d raise the speed limits on the interstate to a reasonable 110mph and enforce lane discipline rather than punish people for driving 10mph over the speed of traffic.
And seriously, that’s not much of a change. CA interstates COMMONLY move at 80-90mph already, forget what the law allows.
I sure hope this gets built, and eventually connects all along the coast. I love taking the train home from uni instead of driving, but it takes much longer. A high speed alternative to air travel is wonderful, rail is so much more fuel efficient and environmentally friendly, both of which are what we desperately need in this country.
2030?…a bunch of chinese immigrants with funny hats built the transcontinental railroad faster than that using pickaxes and a healthy disregard for personal safety.